Falling Short with our Fall Bucket List

Where did Fall go?  It seems like yesterday I was mourning the closing of the pool and the end of Summer.  Now Halloween has passed us and with that, all of the fun Fall activities.

Fall is always a busy time for our family.  It is also one of my favorite seasons (a close second to summer).  In Central Illinois there are so many festivals, orchards and other activities to celebrate the leaves falling, temperatures dropping and all things pumpkin.

Every Fall season I have a mental list of all of the activities I want our family to do, and places I want to visit.  Usually we are able to make a decent dent in that list; however this year we fell far short of accomplishing even half of the bucket list items.

The few places that we were able to visit, Curtis Orchard in Champaign and the Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur, were great as always.  

This year was Anderson’s first visit to Curtis Orchard, but JC and I's second visit.  We visited Curtis Orchard a few years back.  You can read about our trip, as a couple, here.  She enjoyed playing on all of the playground equipment, and really enjoyed her first ride on a pony.  We also got to explore the pumpkin patch and pick out a few pumpkins to paint.  Since we were at an apple orchard, we had to take home some apple doughnuts.  Those were a big hit with our sweet little toddler, who also has a very sweet tooth.             

Before heading home we tried to take a picture in the oversized rocking chair.  Our very stubborn two-year-old is not a fan of having her picture taken, so this was the best we could get.

The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur is always a fun time.  JC and I have been visiting the patch every year for the past 10 years now.  We had our first date at the pumpkin patch, so it is an annual visit for us.  Over the past 10 years The Great Pumpkin Patch has gotten even more animals, attractions and people!  There was a huge crowd when we went searching for our pumpkins on Columbus Day weekend, but we were still able to explore the mazes, pumpkin patches and even check out the little old school house.  You can read about  pre-baby fun at The Great Pumpkin Patch here, a trip to the patch with our dog, Wrigley, here, and our first visit with Miss A.

Even though our Fall bucket list check list didn’t end up having many checks on it this year, we were lucky enough to get to spend time with family, celebrate friends on their wedding days, and celebrate a sixth wedding anniversary for JC and me, as well as experiencing some adult fun in Decatur through some work/fun events JC took part in.  I’ll share the rest of our Halloween fun, and the Fall adult fun events soon. 

What is your favorite Fall activity or event?